So... let's say one steals an iProduct with a PIN lock on. Is it basically a brick at that point if they can't figure out the PIN based on grease prints on the glass? Doesn't the thing lock up after repeated, incorrect PIN entries? Plus there's the whole "where's my iPad" feature that allows you to remote-lock it.

Now I know that a lot of people don't put PIN lock on their smartphones and tablets, but my real question is whether this would be a genuine non-starter or just a minor inconvenience to a thief.

It has nothing to do with the Pin. You can deactivate an iPhone from Apple's site. Once this happens, the phone is dead; nothing works. It can only be reactivated by Apple and they will only do it for the registered owner.

Asa Phelps:We could foil nearly all of these if carriers refused to activate phones that were reported stolen.

But that might eat into their profits.

Im more shocked that the cops actually took the time to track it down, and didnt just pull the " sorry, we have murderers and rapists to chase with our overworked detectives. We dont have time for your silly little toy. Here is a police report so you can turn it in to your insurance company. good luck." move.

And I'll second that comment. Why I can give my carrier a police report indicating that my property was forcibly removed from my posession and they dont care and will continue to allow that new phone to be used blows my mind. If I report my car stolen the thief cant get new plates, so whats the difference?

I heard one argument about false reports etc, but come on. At least accept a valid police report and lock it.

CameraMonkey:Asa Phelps: We could foil nearly all of these if carriers refused to activate phones that were reported stolen.

But that might eat into their profits.

Im more shocked that the cops actually took the time to track it down, and didnt just pull the " sorry, we have murderers and rapists to chase with our overworked detectives. We dont have time for your silly little toy. Here is a police report so you can turn it in to your insurance company. good luck." move.

And I'll second that comment. Why I can give my carrier a police report indicating that my property was forcibly removed from my posession and they dont care and will continue to allow that new phone to be used blows my mind. If I report my car stolen the thief cant get new plates, so whats the difference?

I heard one argument about false reports etc, but come on. At least accept a valid police report and lock it.

I know a girl who got her phone stolen and somehow tracked it to a home. She decided to go with a cop to the home and when the cop questioned the kid, they simply said, "nope, we have nothing." And that was that. Even though the girl was certain it tracked there, they didn't/couldn't do shiat.

JackieRabbit:It has nothing to do with the Pin. You can deactivate an iPhone from Apple's site. Once this happens, the phone is dead; nothing works. It can only be reactivated by Apple and they will only do it for the registered owner.

Yes, I'm aware of this and thus included it in my OP. However, let's say you're a 62-year-old grandmother with little understanding of the remote-lock/find/wipe feature available. Does the PIN lock brick the phone, too, after repeated failures? Then the thief would have to take it back to the Apple Store, where the rest of your comment comes into play.

I really just wonder because my wife's work iPad was stolen. It had a PIN, we activated the remote lock on it as well as "where's my iPad?" but never saw a peep. I figure they must have either trashed it or someone with skills did a jail break on it without it ever connecting to iCloud again.

CSB Time:My wife got home from work last week and noticed her iPhone was gone. I opened up Find my Friends and watched it move around a neighborhood about 6 blocks from her workplace. She decided to go back to work and look for it (stupid, right? It's clearly not there) while I used Find my iPhone to lock it and hopefully freak out the thief. A bit later she calls me to tell me it's on her desk, right where she left it.

factoryconnection:JackieRabbit: It has nothing to do with the Pin. You can deactivate an iPhone from Apple's site. Once this happens, the phone is dead; nothing works. It can only be reactivated by Apple and they will only do it for the registered owner.

Yes, I'm aware of this and thus included it in my OP. However, let's say you're a 62-year-old grandmother with little understanding of the remote-lock/find/wipe feature available. Does the PIN lock brick the phone, too, after repeated failures? Then the thief would have to take it back to the Apple Store, where the rest of your comment comes into play.

I really just wonder because my wife's work iPad was stolen. It had a PIN, we activated the remote lock on it as well as "where's my iPad?" but never saw a peep. I figure they must have either trashed it or someone with skills did a jail break on it without it ever connecting to iCloud again.

factoryconnection:JackieRabbit: It has nothing to do with the Pin. You can deactivate an iPhone from Apple's site. Once this happens, the phone is dead; nothing works. It can only be reactivated by Apple and they will only do it for the registered owner.

Yes, I'm aware of this and thus included it in my OP. However, let's say you're a 62-year-old grandmother with little understanding of the remote-lock/find/wipe feature available. Does the PIN lock brick the phone, too, after repeated failures? Then the thief would have to take it back to the Apple Store, where the rest of your comment comes into play.

I really just wonder because my wife's work iPad was stolen. It had a PIN, we activated the remote lock on it as well as "where's my iPad?" but never saw a peep. I figure they must have either trashed it or someone with skills did a jail break on it without it ever connecting to iCloud again.

You can reset an iPhone that has a PIN on it, theres a procedure where you hold buttons while plugging it into a PC with iTunes - iTunes will then let you wipe it and reset it back to factory... Lost PIN Recovery, I have to do it for work every now and then after getting old phones back. So to answer your question, no, Not knowing the PIN does not Brick the phone, but does require you to reset it, which you would probably want to do anyway.

Darkwing:CSB Time:My wife got home from work last week and noticed her iPhone was gone. I opened up Find my Friends and watched it move around a neighborhood about 6 blocks from her workplace. She decided to go back to work and look for it (stupid, right? It's clearly not there) while I used Find my iPhone to lock it and hopefully freak out the thief. A bit later she calls me to tell me it's on her desk, right where she left it.

So, the obvious question is, us my wife cheating on me?

Did you question her on this occurance?? Just curious.. Sounds fishy. Does she smell fishy?

Darkwing:CSB Time:My wife got home from work last week and noticed her iPhone was gone. I opened up Find my Friends and watched it move around a neighborhood about 6 blocks from her workplace. She decided to go back to work and look for it (stupid, right? It's clearly not there) while I used Find my iPhone to lock it and hopefully freak out the thief. A bit later she calls me to tell me it's on her desk, right where she left it.

So, the obvious question is, us my wife cheating on me?

Yes. Okay maybe a direct yes is a bit harsh. Track the phone at times when she says she's going out to certain places or with certain people. Maybe let her know you'll be out somewhere for an evening of friends and test to see where she goes.

Darkwing:CSB Time:My wife got home from work last week and noticed her iPhone was gone. I opened up Find my Friends and watched it move around a neighborhood about 6 blocks from her workplace. She decided to go back to work and look for it (stupid, right? It's clearly not there) while I used Find my iPhone to lock it and hopefully freak out the thief. A bit later she calls me to tell me it's on her desk, right where she left it.

Darkwing:CSB Time:My wife got home from work last week and noticed her iPhone was gone. I opened up Find my Friends and watched it move around a neighborhood about 6 blocks from her workplace. She decided to go back to work and look for it (stupid, right? It's clearly not there) while I used Find my iPhone to lock it and hopefully freak out the thief. A bit later she calls me to tell me it's on her desk, right where she left it.

So, the obvious question is, us my wife cheating on me?

Maybe when you locked it the thief realized what was going on and returned it to her desk where he stole it?

CameraMonkey:Im more shocked that the cops actually took the time to track it down, and didnt just pull the " sorry, we have murderers and rapists to chase with our overworked detectives. We dont have time for your silly little toy. Here is a police report so you can turn it in to your insurance company. good luck." move.

Wow. My post was actually meant to be a criticism of the Find my iPhone accuracy but now you have me worried. Would it make a difference if I mentioned that according to the app her phone routinely moved from a residential neighborhood to the middle of a river 3-4 blocks away within minutes?

LiberalEastCoastElitist:CameraMonkey: Im more shocked that the cops actually took the time to track it down, and didnt just pull the " sorry, we have murderers and rapists to chase with our overworked detectives. We dont have time for your silly little toy. Here is a police report so you can turn it in to your insurance company. good luck." move.

Armed robbery is kind of a big deal.

Is it? Seems like this could be an interesting "followup" here on Fark. I'd be interested in seeing someone, well, follow up once the court case is concluded to see just what sort of "punishment" these gentlemen get for sticking a gun in this woman's face and taking her belongings away from her.

ST. LOUIS • When Megan Boken wanted to trade her Blackberry cellphone for an iPhone 4s, she and her father, Paul Boken, picked one up in their suburban Chicago hometown.

It was July 8. A white one caught 23-year-old Megan's eye.

Forty-one days later, that very phone caught the eye of two strangers as Boken walked in the Central West End on a visit to St. Louis, police said. She was talking on it to her mother while walking to her parked car at Maryland and Taylor avenues on a bright Saturday afternoon.

As Megan ranted to her mother about an hour-long warm-up before her St. Louis University alumni volleyball game, Keith Esters made his move, police said. Megan's conversation with her mother ended in mid-sentence.

Esters aimed a gun and demanded the phone. She resisted. He shot her twice, killing her, according to first-degree murder charges that also name Esters' cousin, Johnathan Perkins, as the getaway driver. The men, both 18, have confessed, officials said.

"I never would've thought buying an iPhone would lead to this," Paul Boken said from his office in downtown Chicago during an interview a few days ago.

I don't think we can adequately appreciate how stupid and pathetic a person has to be to want to steal someone's phone and then to actually do it. The pictures give a hint but I think we're still not coming to grips with the total level of ignorance involved.

Darkwing:CSB Time:My wife got home from work last week and noticed her iPhone was gone. I opened up Find my Friends and watched it move around a neighborhood about 6 blocks from her workplace. She decided to go back to work and look for it (stupid, right? It's clearly not there) while I used Find my iPhone to lock it and hopefully freak out the thief. A bit later she calls me to tell me it's on her desk, right where she left it.

So, the obvious question is, us my wife cheating on me?

Yes. We all knew it a long time ago but couldn't bring ourselves to tell you.

reubendaley:LiberalEastCoastElitist: CameraMonkey: Im more shocked that the cops actually took the time to track it down, and didnt just pull the " sorry, we have murderers and rapists to chase with our overworked detectives. We dont have time for your silly little toy. Here is a police report so you can turn it in to your insurance company. good luck." move.

Armed robbery is kind of a big deal.

Is it? Seems like this could be an interesting "followup" here on Fark. I'd be interested in seeing someone, well, follow up once the court case is concluded to see just what sort of "punishment" these gentlemen get for sticking a gun in this woman's face and taking her belongings away from her.

/and by "gentlemen" I mean "animals"

I was curious, so I looked it up. 105 months for robbery, 112 for sexual abuse, trafficking is 84 months, larceny is 31 months. For some reason society frowns on the use of a weapon to commit a crime.

factoryconnection:JackieRabbit: It has nothing to do with the Pin. You can deactivate an iPhone from Apple's site. Once this happens, the phone is dead; nothing works. It can only be reactivated by Apple and they will only do it for the registered owner.

Yes, I'm aware of this and thus included it in my OP. However, let's say you're a 62-year-old grandmother with little understanding of the remote-lock/find/wipe feature available. Does the PIN lock brick the phone, too, after repeated failures? Then the thief would have to take it back to the Apple Store, where the rest of your comment comes into play.

I really just wonder because my wife's work iPad was stolen. It had a PIN, we activated the remote lock on it as well as "where's my iPad?" but never saw a peep. I figure they must have either trashed it or someone with skills did a jail break on it without it ever connecting to iCloud again.

Had one customer who had bought an I phone and had the number ran through the system and was clean so she bought the phone and had it for about two weeks and then could not make calls with it. After further investigation the phone she had bought had been sent to the wrong address and because it was never activated it ran clean. Once the phone was activated it was immediately disabled. I had to explain this to the customer the reason why she could not use the phone. I didn't ask how much she had paid for the phone.

I was also juror on a trial that involved an I phone and Craig's List where a man met his robbers on a college campus at dusk to buy the phone. The robbers handed him an empty box and the guy did not want it and called off the deal. That's when he was robbed. The campus police blew the guy off because he is from another country and had a thick accent and that there was no much of a chance they would ever catch the guys who robbed him. Later the guy found another Craig's List article from the same guys who robbed him. He set up another meeting (this is how dumb the robbers were they didn't recognize his voice or thought they would get him again). This time he used help of the campus police and caught them. The campus police did a poor job on this case at the beginning, especially the first responding officer who needs to be retrained in cultural awareness. One of the robbers was a football player for the college and the other was his thug friend.

Darkwing:Wow. My post was actually meant to be a criticism of the Find my iPhone accuracy but now you have me worried. Would it make a difference if I mentioned that according to the app her phone routinely moved from a residential neighborhood to the middle of a river 3-4 blocks away within minutes?

Because she got in her lovers car and they went down to the river to "talk".